Some of you have read my other posts on this car, finally got to drive it, had a light miss when I got it all back together from a cut plug wire. Wasnt real bad but bad enough to not want to drive it much. Would spin the tires pretty easily just giving it enough to get over small bumps. Took it up the road, turned around to come back and gave it about 1/3 throttle. It tried to pick up then backfired and bogged down leaving a huge cloud of grey smoke. Started missing on at least 2 cylinders pretty bad, Feels like its not firing on at least two at all.

Plugs seem ok, put new wireset on after that, runs the same. Water pump shows signs of previous seeping at weep hole so it'll be getting replaced. No CEL no more smoke oil or gas. Engine sounds good and quiet, no knocks or ticking. Does it sound like maybe a cap or bad opti? If I had the extra cash right now Id just replace the whole opti and water pump, coil, ICM, etc. all of it. But I just moved and the car is stored at familys house and I cant work on it here, so I get to sit here try to think of things and search here for things to check and replace. I've been tossing up the idea of replacing the opti and seeing what that does for it, cause I can always leave it sit where it is until I can get a water pump if thats the problem.

I cant think of anything else Im leavin out, except an exhaust leak at the y-pipe from some rigged exhaust bolts that I need to replace. Fixed a couple vaccum leaks, new pcv valve, new air and fuel filters, I did find a cheap alternative to the evap vaccum elbow on the intake. A chrysler emissions elbow fits perfect on the intake and the little plastic tube fits loosely in the other end, a little right stuff gasket maker seals it off real good and solid. I can get a picture and a part number if anybody wants it. Sure beat $22 for the whole hose from the dealer. I just couldnt see spendin that much for that small short emissions hose when all I needed was the elbow.

Also when I had the pan off, The motor looked like it had around 50,000 miles on it, no bearing material pushing out, all the cylinders still have cross hatch marks in them, looked better than I expected. Im pretty sure its been out before. Car has 154,000 on it.

That is one thing I forgot, the opti is caked in old oil, I also have a timing cover gasket set for if/when I do tear everything off the front. Car also has no cat.

Also forgot to add, the car starts very easy, its like a whir whir vroom, no excessive cranking.

 

pretty easy answer - dont get your opti wet! A wet opti causes backfires, sputtering, random misses etc. Once it gets wet sometimes they are fried, sometimes you can dry them out (let it idle for a while, drive around for a long drive, get it heated up etc).

This is what I would suggest at least as the problem, you will find optis are not your friend. Maybe I am biased though since I just replaced my 5th opti last night in 10 years.

 

Ya I know dont let the opti get wet. I just bought this car and it didnt run when I bought it. Just got everything back together. Water pump isnt dripping or anything, just stained where it has at some point. The car had sat for at least a year untouched before I brought it home. I was kinda thinkin opti, just need to get some time to run all the tests on it listed on this forum.

Edit--- Anybody running a richporter opti, or had used one? Im considering one of those since it comes all together, and I've seen a few posts reccommending them. Plus the lifetime warranty..... What about the Cardone reman water pumps with lifetime warranty? They any good? At least if one of them went out I could warranty both, as long as its not every couple of months....

 

Well left the car outside last night and its rained most of the day. Went to fire it up to see if the moisture would affect it. Backfired a little on startup. Idle was more erratic, and didnt want to rev much. So Im pretty sure its opti time. Just tryin to get so more project money together.

Still waiting on opinions of the Rich Porter opti and reman water pump. Only reason Im considering them is the lifetime warranty.

 

DO NOT GET A RICH PORTER OPTI. I read a post recently on one that failed. The person who bought it was trying to tell me it was an OEM part, but it isn't. Buy only the OEM AC Delco (now Delphi) part. What good are free replacements for a part that fails frequently?

I don't think there is a lot of difference among the various rebyuilt water pumps.

Have you scanned it for codes? The Opti codes don't turn on the SES light.

You indicate the car sat unused for a year. Was the fuel treated with stabilizer? Did you have the fuel system cleaned, new filter, injectors checked?

 

Ok thats what I wanted to see was someone with the knowledge on them that would say they are junk or ok. I know what your saying on the changing it out constantly. So the reman waterpumps arent a big problem? Car has fresh fuel, injectors are all firing good pattern. Car smells a little rich, probably because of the miss. Have not got to scan it yet as I havnt been able to get my hands on an obd1 scanner. My brother has one but hes 5+ hours away. Wish my obd2 would read it or you could jump the pins like the older ones. Can I get the link for the partsladi? I never can get it to pull up on ebay.

 

this one?
http://stores.ebay.com/thepartsladi

 

sweet, thanks for the link.

 

Quick question. Is there any advantages of the black cap over the silicone tan lookin caps from thepartsladi? Im working a deal on an older one from them from a member here that is new, just wondering if the ones they are selling now with the black cap have any advantages? Is it an improved redesign or just a change? Im most likely getting the one I found here, just was curious of the change.